WEBVTT 00:00.000 --> 00:07.480 Crossroads. Each Crossroads story is based on the actual experiences of 00:07.480 --> 00:12.880 American clergymen, pastor, priest, or rabbi. The men who give inspiration and 00:12.880 --> 00:17.800 guidance to people at the crossroads of life. These dramatic stories are 00:17.800 --> 00:22.160 presented with the cooperation of our Board of Advisors. Captain Maurice M. 00:22.160 --> 00:24.840 Witherspoon. 00:24.840 --> 00:30.200 Father George B. Ford. 00:31.800 --> 00:35.840 And Dr. William F. Rosenblum. 00:39.720 --> 00:44.120 And now for our story. 00:48.040 --> 00:52.800 Each year the Yuletide season is heralded by the magical appearance of 00:52.800 --> 00:57.520 glittering, gaily decorated Christmas trees. And because all of us are too busy 00:57.520 --> 01:02.680 with holiday preparations, we rarely stop to think of how this lovely custom began 01:02.680 --> 01:08.640 in our country. This is the story of the very first tree to shine at an American 01:08.640 --> 01:15.600 Christmas service. The year was 1851 and the man responsible was Reverend Henry 01:15.600 --> 01:20.640 Schwann, who had only recently arrived in America to serve as pastor of the Zion 01:20.640 --> 01:26.760 Church in Cleveland, Ohio. This is our tree, a fine spruce. Why did you pick a 01:26.760 --> 01:30.680 spruce tree, pastor? The old country, that's the kind we always used for 01:30.680 --> 01:36.840 Christmas. I don't know. I never heard of such a thing before. Just wait and see 01:36.840 --> 01:42.080 how wonderful it'll look in the church. You mean you're going to put this tree 01:42.080 --> 01:46.600 in the church? Well, of course. What better place could we find to put it? 01:46.600 --> 01:51.280 The children can't wait to start decorating it and when it's finished it'll 01:51.280 --> 01:56.880 be a thing of beauty. As you wish, pastor. 02:02.520 --> 02:09.600 Ah, it's a beautiful tree, isn't it? If you like trees. 02:09.600 --> 02:12.600 He's here! He's here! Here's the pastor! 02:12.600 --> 02:17.600 We're pastors! We're pastors! We didn't come here! And from where? Where did it come from? 02:17.600 --> 02:22.600 From heaven, of course! Yes, children, it most certainly did. As all things on this earth 02:22.600 --> 02:27.800 come from heaven. Can we have a tree every Christmas? Why, of course, we'll have a 02:27.800 --> 02:33.200 tree every Christmas. But why haven't we ever had one before? I don't know, child, 02:33.200 --> 02:37.840 but this will be part of our holiday service in the Zion Church from now on. 02:37.840 --> 02:43.720 Why, a tree at Christmas is as important as the story of the Nativity itself and 02:43.720 --> 02:48.840 as beautiful as the birth of our Lord. Can't we put candles on it and everything? 02:48.840 --> 02:52.240 Well, at least save the candles until the last. Then you come to the church on 02:52.240 --> 02:56.040 Christmas Eve to worship with your parents. But suppose our tree gets 02:56.040 --> 03:01.320 lonesome and wants to go back to heaven? Well, I doubt if that will happen, but 03:01.320 --> 03:08.040 just to make sure, let's all pray together in silence. 03:11.040 --> 03:17.040 And please, dear God, make our tree the most beautiful thing in the whole church. 03:17.040 --> 03:19.040 Amen. 03:19.040 --> 03:23.040 Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. 03:23.040 --> 03:27.040 Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. 03:27.040 --> 03:31.040 Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. 03:31.040 --> 03:35.040 Oh, what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh. 03:38.040 --> 03:41.040 Tell me, did you carry the tree all the way from the woods by yourself? 03:41.040 --> 03:46.040 No, no, Amy helped me. And I don't mind telling you I worked up an appetite for it. 03:46.040 --> 03:47.040 It smells so good. 03:47.040 --> 03:50.040 Well, you wait and see. Something we haven't had since the old country. 03:50.040 --> 03:56.040 Good. Tomorrow we decorate the tree and then on Christmas Eve we get all the children. 03:56.040 --> 04:03.040 Oh, Mr. Shumley, come in, come in. 04:03.040 --> 04:07.040 We just started supper. Won't you join us? 04:07.040 --> 04:10.040 No, thank you. What I have to say will only take a minute. 04:10.040 --> 04:12.040 Oh, is there something wrong? 04:12.040 --> 04:15.040 You know as well as I do there's something wrong. It's that tree. 04:15.040 --> 04:20.040 But it has always been part of the Christmas ceremony. Why, back in the old country... 04:20.040 --> 04:24.040 Our church was the house of the Lord and our congregation respects it as such. 04:24.040 --> 04:29.040 The service for the birth of our Savior is the most sacred time of the year. 04:29.040 --> 04:32.040 But it's also a time for joy and celebration. 04:32.040 --> 04:35.040 It's a time for piety and true religious feeling. 04:35.040 --> 04:38.040 Today our children danced in the shadow of the altar. 04:38.040 --> 04:40.040 Do you think that's proper and fitting? 04:40.040 --> 04:44.040 Is this what you intend to teach them? To hang baubles on a tree? 04:44.040 --> 04:49.040 To make a mockery of the very religion that our fathers and our forefathers fought to preserve? 04:49.040 --> 04:51.040 Surely, Mr. Shumley, you don't think that I... 04:51.040 --> 04:56.040 I don't have to think. Mr. Perry, our sexton, saw it with his own eyes. 04:56.040 --> 04:58.040 But I'm sure the sexton misunderstood. 04:58.040 --> 05:00.040 He didn't misunderstand. 05:00.040 --> 05:03.040 Any more than the rest of the people of this community will misunderstand. 05:03.040 --> 05:12.040 That word of this story spread, the people of Cleveland will think that the Zion church is made up of some fanatical religious cult, worshipping false idols. 05:12.040 --> 05:15.040 Oh, Mr. Shumley, if you'll just allow me to explain... 05:15.040 --> 05:20.040 What is there to explain? There's been enough damage done already. 05:20.040 --> 05:23.040 Now, let's forget this nonsense and you get that tree out of the church. 05:23.040 --> 05:25.040 But I promised the children. They'll forget it. 05:25.040 --> 05:29.040 Never. They can't wait until Christmas Eve to see the tree decorated. 05:29.040 --> 05:31.040 And I won't disappoint them. 05:31.040 --> 05:34.040 You won't. Good night, Reverend Schwann. 05:45.040 --> 05:48.040 Henry, if there's going to be trouble... 05:48.040 --> 05:53.040 I can't believe that every member of my congregation thinks as Mr. Shumley does. 05:53.040 --> 05:55.040 Idolatry, paganism. 05:55.040 --> 06:03.040 Now, what would I be doing, an ordained minister of the gospel, teaching the children of my congregation, anything except but to worship the Lord? 06:03.040 --> 06:06.040 But if Mr. Shumley and the sexton both misunderstood... 06:06.040 --> 06:08.040 Then I will have to change their minds. 06:08.040 --> 06:13.040 Henry, maybe you should forget about the tree. Maybe next year. 06:13.040 --> 06:14.040 No. 06:14.040 --> 06:19.040 Our tree at Christmas has been in existence for hundreds of years. It's a traditional part of the holiday. 06:19.040 --> 06:25.040 And if my church is destined to be the first in America to begin the practice, then so be it. 06:27.040 --> 06:30.040 Henry, I'm frightened. 06:31.040 --> 06:36.040 Oh, Rachel. Rachel, surely you haven't lost faith. 06:36.040 --> 06:39.040 Everything is going to be all right. I know it is. 06:39.040 --> 06:44.040 This is going to be the finest Christmas ever. 06:47.040 --> 06:53.040 And you mean to tell me this new minister actually intends to use this tree as part of the Christmas service? 06:53.040 --> 06:55.040 That's what I'm trying to tell you. 06:55.040 --> 06:57.040 Why, he has the children bewitched. 06:57.040 --> 07:04.040 Instead of teaching them their psalms, or reading to them from the Bible, or making them practice their hymns... 07:04.040 --> 07:07.040 He has them stringing popcorn and making fancy ornaments. 07:07.040 --> 07:11.040 Why, the place is like a carnival instead of a house of worship. 07:11.040 --> 07:14.040 What else did the minister say? 07:14.040 --> 07:17.040 Oh, you're not going to put that in your paper, are you, Mr. Peters? 07:17.040 --> 07:20.040 I wouldn't think of such a thing, Mr. Perry. 07:20.040 --> 07:25.040 Well, then, it all started about three weeks ago. 07:30.040 --> 07:33.040 It's awful. Simply awful. 07:33.040 --> 07:35.040 It's an outrage. That's what it is, an outrage. 07:35.040 --> 07:42.040 And I tell you here and now, Mr. Shumley, my husband, Mr. Meyer, and I agree with you 100%. 07:42.040 --> 07:46.040 I have forbidden my child to touch that tree. 07:46.040 --> 07:53.040 What I can't understand is why the parson would do such a thing, to deliberately mislead children. 07:59.040 --> 08:01.040 Good morning, ladies. 08:01.040 --> 08:03.040 Good morning. 08:05.040 --> 08:07.040 How are you today, Mr. Crim? 08:07.040 --> 08:09.040 All right. 08:09.040 --> 08:12.040 I knew this would happen, Mrs. Schwann. I knew it. 08:12.040 --> 08:14.040 Emil, can't they understand? 08:14.040 --> 08:19.040 The pastor just wants to make Christmas a happy holiday, and to give the children something. 08:19.040 --> 08:21.040 He's giving them something, Mrs. Schwann. 08:21.040 --> 08:24.040 If he continues, he'll make heathens of them all. 08:24.040 --> 08:26.040 Emil, you can't believe that. 08:26.040 --> 08:31.040 My son is more interested in this infernal tree than the Bible. 08:31.040 --> 08:34.040 If the pastor thought for one moment that... 08:40.040 --> 08:42.040 Please, Henry, listen to me. 08:42.040 --> 08:45.040 I'm trying to, Rachel, but... 08:47.040 --> 08:50.040 I'm trying to listen to you, Rachel, but... 08:50.040 --> 08:56.040 No matter what you and the others may say, theirs is the loudest voice. 08:56.040 --> 09:00.040 But don't you see the consequences? You cannot defy a whole congregation. 09:00.040 --> 09:02.040 I don't want to defy anybody. 09:02.040 --> 09:05.040 But the story in the newspaper, maybe they're right and you're wrong. 09:05.040 --> 09:08.040 This is a new country with new ideas. 09:08.040 --> 09:10.040 Please, forget it. 09:10.040 --> 09:13.040 Look, pastor, it's almost finished. 09:13.040 --> 09:15.040 Except for the candles. 09:15.040 --> 09:19.040 Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. 09:19.040 --> 09:23.040 Oh, what fun it is to ride a one-horse open sleigh. 09:23.040 --> 09:27.040 I can't, Rachel. I can't. 09:29.040 --> 09:32.040 All right. Have it your own way. 09:32.040 --> 09:34.040 Jingle bells, jingle all the way. 09:34.040 --> 09:38.040 Oh, what fun it is to ride a one-horse open sleigh. 09:38.040 --> 09:42.040 Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way. 09:42.040 --> 09:46.040 Oh, what fun it is to ride a one-horse open sleigh. 09:46.040 --> 09:52.040 Silent night, holy night. 09:52.040 --> 09:58.040 All is calm, all is bright. 09:58.040 --> 10:04.040 Round yon virgin, mother and child. 10:04.040 --> 10:09.040 Holy infant, so tender and mild. 10:09.040 --> 10:15.040 Sleep in heavenly peace. 10:15.040 --> 10:21.040 Sleep in heavenly peace. 10:21.040 --> 10:25.040 Now, now, you weren't supposed to hear that until Christmas Eve. 10:25.040 --> 10:27.040 Charlie, I told you to stay away from that tree. 10:27.040 --> 10:30.040 Mr. Thomas, please. 10:30.040 --> 10:31.040 Papa, the pastor said... 10:31.040 --> 10:33.040 I don't care what the pastor said. You get away from there. 10:33.040 --> 10:34.040 Listen to me. 10:34.040 --> 10:35.040 You set it off tomorrow, Eddie. 10:35.040 --> 10:36.040 Just let me explain. 10:36.040 --> 10:39.040 The spruce tree is just a symbol of Christmas. 10:39.040 --> 10:41.040 Of hedonism, you mean. 10:41.040 --> 10:42.040 Go home, Eddie. 10:42.040 --> 10:43.040 No. 10:43.040 --> 10:45.040 Go home, Nancy. You're now already. Go on, quickly. 10:45.040 --> 10:48.040 But, Papa, the pastor said this tree was ours. 10:48.040 --> 10:50.040 And we love it. 10:50.040 --> 10:52.040 They're going to take it away. They're going to take it away. 10:52.040 --> 10:54.040 Please don't. 10:54.040 --> 11:01.040 This is not for you to decide. Now, go on home. 11:01.040 --> 11:03.040 Go home, children. 11:03.040 --> 11:16.040 Get your things. 11:16.040 --> 11:18.040 Now, are you satisfied? 11:18.040 --> 11:24.040 The only thing that will satisfy us, Pastor, is to get rid of this once and for all. 11:24.040 --> 11:26.040 And if I refuse? 11:26.040 --> 11:29.040 Then you leave us no choice but to ask for your resignation. 11:29.040 --> 11:30.040 You don't mean that. 11:30.040 --> 11:32.040 Every word of it. 11:32.040 --> 11:35.040 Every congregation and every person in Cleveland agrees. 11:35.040 --> 11:37.040 But this is my first church. 11:37.040 --> 11:40.040 My first Christmas in America. 11:40.040 --> 11:44.040 I've been looking forward to it ever since the first day we came here. 11:44.040 --> 11:48.040 Either you respect our wishes, or we'll conduct the Christmas service without you. 11:48.040 --> 11:50.040 But you don't understand. 11:50.040 --> 11:52.040 The tree isn't my idea. 11:52.040 --> 12:01.040 It's been in existence for centuries. 12:01.040 --> 12:03.040 Then what are you trying to tell me, Rachel? 12:03.040 --> 12:09.040 That simply that if the tree is going to cause dissension and ill will, its very purpose will be destroyed. 12:09.040 --> 12:12.040 But didn't we always have a tree in the church in the old country? 12:12.040 --> 12:14.040 And did that make heathens out of us? 12:14.040 --> 12:16.040 You have got to forget about the old country. 12:16.040 --> 12:19.040 But that's one of the main reasons why the Zion Church brought us here. 12:19.040 --> 12:25.040 Because they had respect for my religious training and because they wanted to combine the best of the new and the old. 12:25.040 --> 12:27.040 You want me to give it up? 12:27.040 --> 12:30.040 No. 12:30.040 --> 12:32.040 Perhaps it is better to resign. 12:32.040 --> 12:35.040 Maybe we should go away from here to Canada. 12:35.040 --> 12:38.040 Your brother John might find a place for us. 12:38.040 --> 12:40.040 No. 12:40.040 --> 12:43.040 No, John has his own church and I intend to keep mine. 12:43.040 --> 12:45.040 And I will. 12:45.040 --> 12:47.040 I don't know how. 12:47.040 --> 12:49.040 But I will. 12:49.040 --> 13:00.040 Well, lady, come in, come in. 13:00.040 --> 13:01.040 Well, just for a minute. 13:01.040 --> 13:05.040 Hurry up, it's cold. 13:05.040 --> 13:08.040 Well, where are you off to? 13:08.040 --> 13:10.040 Some place far away. 13:10.040 --> 13:11.040 Cincinnati. 13:11.040 --> 13:13.040 Even Africa, maybe. 13:13.040 --> 13:14.040 Oh, I see. 13:14.040 --> 13:16.040 I didn't want to go without telling you goodbye. 13:16.040 --> 13:19.040 I'm so sorry. 13:19.040 --> 13:25.040 Would you like some milk and cookies before you leave? 13:25.040 --> 13:28.040 Your parents will be disappointed you won't be here for Christmas. 13:28.040 --> 13:29.040 Christmas? 13:29.040 --> 13:31.040 They don't even know what Christmas means. 13:31.040 --> 13:34.040 That's just what I told them too. 13:34.040 --> 13:36.040 My mama wants to burn the tree. 13:36.040 --> 13:40.040 I heard her say so. 13:40.040 --> 13:42.040 I'm not very hungry. 13:42.040 --> 13:44.040 So I guess maybe I'm just out of start. 13:44.040 --> 13:51.040 You've got time for one cookie. 13:51.040 --> 13:54.040 You think this is a good idea, you're running away like this? 13:54.040 --> 13:55.040 I'm not afraid. 13:55.040 --> 13:58.040 I'm almost nine. 13:58.040 --> 14:01.040 Oh, I see. 14:01.040 --> 14:07.040 But when you get that old, you must realize that running away from home doesn't always solve one's problems. 14:07.040 --> 14:10.040 Now, you know what I would do if I were you? 14:10.040 --> 14:11.040 What? 14:11.040 --> 14:12.040 Go back home and have faith. 14:12.040 --> 14:13.040 You would? 14:13.040 --> 14:17.040 And even if you think your parents are wrong, I mean the way they feel about the tree, 14:17.040 --> 14:21.040 you must always remember that everybody has a right to his own opinion. 14:21.040 --> 14:23.040 That's why we're all living in this country. 14:23.040 --> 14:24.040 But if they burn the tree... 14:24.040 --> 14:25.040 They won't. 14:25.040 --> 14:26.040 How can you be sure? 14:26.040 --> 14:28.040 Because that's what I believe. 14:28.040 --> 14:33.040 Then I believe it too. 14:33.040 --> 14:44.040 Wait till I tell the rest of the kids we're going to have a tree after all. 14:44.040 --> 14:46.040 Mrs. Schmidt. 14:46.040 --> 14:49.040 I thought so. 14:49.040 --> 14:50.040 Running away, were you? 14:50.040 --> 14:53.040 Just wait till your father hears about this. 14:53.040 --> 14:54.040 Go back, talk. 14:54.040 --> 14:55.040 You wait from the outside. 14:55.040 --> 14:56.040 But I... 14:56.040 --> 14:57.040 This instant. 14:57.040 --> 14:59.040 My own son. 14:59.040 --> 15:01.040 Ready to run away from home and you encourage him. 15:01.040 --> 15:03.040 Mrs. Schmidt, if you just calm down for a moment... 15:03.040 --> 15:04.040 Calm down? 15:04.040 --> 15:06.040 It's intolerable, that's what it is. 15:06.040 --> 15:11.040 Do you think this would have happened if you hadn't filled those children with your silly ideas? 15:11.040 --> 15:15.040 Turning them into agnostics, helping them to defy their parents. 15:15.040 --> 15:17.040 But Eddie isn't running away. 15:17.040 --> 15:18.040 Believe me, he isn't. 15:18.040 --> 15:19.040 And I just got through telling him... 15:19.040 --> 15:20.040 Telling him what? 15:20.040 --> 15:22.040 More nonsense about that tree? 15:22.040 --> 15:23.040 Well, I told him... 15:23.040 --> 15:24.040 Just as I thought. 15:24.040 --> 15:25.040 You'll regret this. 15:25.040 --> 15:28.040 Oh, believe me, you'll regret it. 15:28.040 --> 15:35.040 Mrs. Schmidt, believe... 15:35.040 --> 15:38.040 Unless I can prove that I've done nothing wrong... 15:38.040 --> 15:40.040 That this tree is a part of the Christmas service... 15:40.040 --> 15:44.040 These people will go on believing that I'm preaching blasphemy. 15:44.040 --> 15:48.040 But if they don't believe their own minister... 15:48.040 --> 15:51.040 They just must believe us. 15:51.040 --> 15:53.040 We are both Americans too. 15:53.040 --> 16:00.040 We are both Americans too. 16:00.040 --> 16:02.040 But I know we had candles in the store. 16:02.040 --> 16:03.040 A whole carton of them. 16:03.040 --> 16:05.040 I've been looking everywhere, Mr. Shumley. 16:05.040 --> 16:06.040 Well, they've got to be here. 16:06.040 --> 16:07.040 I carried them in myself. 16:07.040 --> 16:08.040 Keep looking. 16:08.040 --> 16:10.040 I've been doing that for the last hour. 16:10.040 --> 16:12.040 Are you sure you didn't sell them? 16:12.040 --> 16:13.040 I'm positive. 16:13.040 --> 16:16.040 You told me not to sell the children any for the Christmas tree. 16:16.040 --> 16:19.040 Don't mention that piece of shrubbery in here. 16:19.040 --> 16:20.040 Of course. 16:20.040 --> 16:22.040 I know what happened. 16:22.040 --> 16:24.040 Somebody stole those candles. 16:24.040 --> 16:26.040 Don't look at me, Mr. Shumley. 16:26.040 --> 16:28.040 Well, if you didn't take them, who did? 16:28.040 --> 16:30.040 It's someone who knew they were here. 16:30.040 --> 16:33.040 Someone who wanted them for a definite reason. 16:33.040 --> 16:34.040 Charlie. 16:34.040 --> 16:35.040 Of course. 16:35.040 --> 16:37.040 But not your own son. 16:37.040 --> 16:39.040 Oh, after listening to that minister... 16:39.040 --> 16:55.040 I have no telling what he might do. 16:55.040 --> 16:58.040 Suppose your father finds out that you're flat until Christmas Eve. 16:58.040 --> 17:00.040 But that's not until tomorrow. 17:00.040 --> 17:02.040 And by then our tree will be gone. 17:02.040 --> 17:03.040 It won't, I tell you. 17:03.040 --> 17:04.040 It won't. 17:04.040 --> 17:05.040 The pastor promised. 17:05.040 --> 17:20.040 Charlie. 17:20.040 --> 17:21.040 I knew it. 17:21.040 --> 17:22.040 I knew it. 17:22.040 --> 17:23.040 You stole them. 17:23.040 --> 17:24.040 No, Papa, no. 17:24.040 --> 17:26.040 Not only a thief, but a liar. 17:26.040 --> 17:27.040 It's not true. 17:27.040 --> 17:28.040 It's not true. 17:28.040 --> 17:35.040 I'll show you whether it's true or not. 17:59.040 --> 18:13.040 No, no, no. 18:13.040 --> 18:25.040 You can't touch the tree, Pastor. 18:25.040 --> 18:26.040 Children, children. 18:26.040 --> 18:28.040 You're not supposed to be here. 18:28.040 --> 18:29.040 We need any help. 18:29.040 --> 18:30.040 To look at the tree. 18:30.040 --> 18:32.040 You promised, you promised. 18:32.040 --> 18:34.040 Yes, I know I did, Miss. 18:34.040 --> 18:38.040 There isn't anything in the world I'd rather keep, but I can't. 18:38.040 --> 18:39.040 Please. 18:39.040 --> 18:41.040 Oh, look, children. 18:41.040 --> 18:44.040 Sometimes we want things so badly it hurts. 18:44.040 --> 18:46.040 You want the tree and so do I. 18:46.040 --> 18:50.040 But I also want to stay on here as your minister. 18:50.040 --> 18:52.040 You're not going to run away, are you? 18:52.040 --> 18:54.040 You said you believed. 18:54.040 --> 18:58.040 Well, I still do, but... 18:58.040 --> 19:01.040 Oh, look, children, you run on home, will you? 19:01.040 --> 19:05.040 And I take down the tree. 19:05.040 --> 19:06.040 Now, children, come on now. 19:06.040 --> 19:08.040 Come on, you go on home. 19:08.040 --> 19:09.040 I want to stay. 19:09.040 --> 19:12.040 Go on, you go on home. 19:12.040 --> 19:15.040 What's going on here? 19:15.040 --> 19:18.040 Who's that? 19:18.040 --> 19:19.040 Henry? 19:19.040 --> 19:21.040 John. 19:21.040 --> 19:23.040 John, my old brother. 19:23.040 --> 19:24.040 Henry. 19:24.040 --> 19:25.040 But you were supposed to be in Canada. 19:25.040 --> 19:26.040 What are you doing here? 19:26.040 --> 19:30.040 Oh, I've come down to help you celebrate your first Christmas service, of course. 19:30.040 --> 19:31.040 But of your church. 19:31.040 --> 19:33.040 Oh, I have an assistant now. 19:33.040 --> 19:36.040 We're not having Christmas here. 19:36.040 --> 19:38.040 Not having Christmas? 19:38.040 --> 19:40.040 Well, what kind of talk is that? 19:40.040 --> 19:42.040 What's going on here? 19:42.040 --> 19:44.040 Why are these children so unhappy? 19:44.040 --> 19:45.040 It's a tree. 19:45.040 --> 19:48.040 Nobody wants us to have a Christmas tree. 19:48.040 --> 19:52.040 The river promised us, and now he's going to take it away. 19:52.040 --> 19:53.040 What for? 19:53.040 --> 19:55.040 Well, I don't know, John. 19:55.040 --> 19:56.040 It's my fault. 19:56.040 --> 19:59.040 They just don't have Christmas trees here in America. 19:59.040 --> 20:01.040 Oh, I've never heard such nonsense in all my life. 20:01.040 --> 20:03.040 Everybody should have a Christmas tree. 20:03.040 --> 20:04.040 Well, you don't understand. 20:04.040 --> 20:06.040 The whole congregation's against me. 20:06.040 --> 20:08.040 Then you must convince them that they're wrong. 20:08.040 --> 20:09.040 Oh, I've tried. 20:09.040 --> 20:10.040 Oh, how I've tried, John. 20:10.040 --> 20:13.040 But I've just got to take it down. 20:13.040 --> 20:15.040 No, you'll do nothing of the sort. 20:15.040 --> 20:19.040 The pastor promised we could light our candles on Christmas Eve. 20:19.040 --> 20:21.040 And he'll keep his promise. 20:21.040 --> 20:25.040 Come on, put your candles on the tree and light them. 20:25.040 --> 20:28.040 John, I'm so glad to see you. 20:28.040 --> 20:30.040 You've always been so big and strong, 20:30.040 --> 20:32.040 but this is one mess you won't be able to pull me out of. 20:32.040 --> 20:35.040 Do not go any further with those candles. 20:35.040 --> 20:39.040 Despite everything that's happened, you still insist on having your own way. 20:39.040 --> 20:41.040 It's the way of the Lord, Mr. Shumway. 20:41.040 --> 20:43.040 To teach children to transgress? 20:43.040 --> 20:46.040 To put stolen candles on a spruce tree? 20:46.040 --> 20:47.040 We didn't steal them. 20:47.040 --> 20:48.040 We paid for them. 20:48.040 --> 20:50.040 I left the money on the counter. 20:50.040 --> 20:51.040 That's right, Mr. Shumway. 20:51.040 --> 20:53.040 I found it myself. 20:53.040 --> 20:54.040 I didn't know where it came from. 20:54.040 --> 20:55.040 It doesn't matter. 20:55.040 --> 20:58.040 Overnight, they've learned to lie and disobey. 20:58.040 --> 21:00.040 And that's just the way they grow up. 21:00.040 --> 21:01.040 You're wrong, Mr. Shumway. 21:01.040 --> 21:03.040 Completely wrong. 21:03.040 --> 21:05.040 I'll show you how wrong I am. 21:05.040 --> 21:07.040 Come on, give me a hand. 21:07.040 --> 21:08.040 You're lying. 21:08.040 --> 21:13.040 Do any of you have the slightest idea of what you're talking about? 21:13.040 --> 21:15.040 We heard you were in town, pastor. 21:15.040 --> 21:18.040 Now, if you don't like it here, you can go back to Canada or Europe 21:18.040 --> 21:20.040 or wherever you came from. 21:20.040 --> 21:24.040 I came here to spend Christmas with my brother and his congregation. 21:24.040 --> 21:26.040 And that's just what I intend to do. 21:26.040 --> 21:28.040 And you'll celebrate it without a tree? 21:28.040 --> 21:32.040 Now, just a moment, all of you. 21:32.040 --> 21:36.040 Christmas trees are as old as Jesus himself. 21:36.040 --> 21:39.040 My brother knows that just as well as I do. 21:39.040 --> 21:44.040 And if in the panic and confusion of these troublesome days he's forgotten, 21:44.040 --> 21:48.040 then I'll tell you myself how it all began. 21:48.040 --> 21:51.040 There's been too much talk already. 21:51.040 --> 21:54.040 With my own eyes, I've seen the story, 21:54.040 --> 21:59.040 written into the sacred books of a Sicilian monastery. 21:59.040 --> 22:03.040 The story has been handed down through the ages, 22:03.040 --> 22:08.040 kept alive perhaps for just such a night as this, 22:08.040 --> 22:15.040 a night that began 1851 years ago in a little town called Bethlehem, 22:15.040 --> 22:18.040 the holy night when our Lord was born. 22:18.040 --> 22:23.040 All creatures came to worship in Bethlehem, and the trees did too. 22:23.040 --> 22:29.040 But none of the trees came so far as the least among them, a small cedar. 22:29.040 --> 22:33.040 It was weary. It could hardly stand. 22:33.040 --> 22:36.040 But the stars took pity on it. 22:36.040 --> 22:39.040 And lo, a rain of them fell from heaven, 22:39.040 --> 22:42.040 and the bright Christmas star lighted in the top of the cedar 22:42.040 --> 22:45.040 and all the rest on its branches. 22:45.040 --> 22:51.040 And the child in the manger saw the cedar and blessed it with a smile. 22:51.040 --> 22:54.040 Long before the first known Christmas tree, 22:54.040 --> 22:59.040 a pious man visioned the evergreen as a symbol of the Father's everlasting love, 22:59.040 --> 23:06.040 and the Christ child's star-bedecked birthday gift as a sign from heaven. 23:06.040 --> 23:29.040 And he penned the miracle for posterity, for us. 23:36.040 --> 23:46.040 © BF-WATCH TV 2021 24:06.040 --> 24:18.040 Merry Christmas, Henrik. 24:18.040 --> 24:30.040 Merry Christmas, John. 24:30.040 --> 24:33.040 Stories for Crossroads are selected by our board of advisors, 24:33.040 --> 24:36.040 Captain Maurice M. Witherspoon, 24:36.040 --> 24:39.040 Father George B. Ford, 24:39.040 --> 25:08.040 and Dr. William F. Rosenblum. 25:09.040 --> 25:19.040 © BF-WATCH TV 2021